As far as San Diego State football coach Rocky Long is concerned, the Aztecs (2-3 overall, 0-1 Mountain West) aren’t good enough to overlook anybody right now.

The coach opened his weekly Tuesday press conference by falling on his sword.

“First off, I’d like to say I’ve got to do a much better job of coaching,” Long said, before anyone could even ask a question. “Over the last three weeks, we’ve been absolutely terrible in pass defense. Special teams hasn’t been very good either. They’ve been inconsistent and really bad in the San Jose State game.

“On offense, we were good for two weeks and then kind of poor against Fresno State. So obviously I’m doing a terrible job of coaching.”

So even though Hawaii – a 22-point underdog – rolls into town this Saturday sporting a 1-3 record and an offense that has been chewed up and spit out in every game this year, Long is couching this as a battle of evenly matched foes.

“I would guess that Hawaii feels exactly the same way we do,” Long said. “When you watch them on film, they’re much more talented and have the ability to play much better than they’ve been playing.

“I’m sure they’re frustrated and want to win a game very bad. That’s the same way we are. We have enough talent to be better than we are. So it comes down to coaching.”

As the defensive coordinator, Long has said the team will switch tactics this week and play a simpler defensive package.

The zone blitzes that that Aztecs experimented with last week were partly responsible for the two interceptions that SDSU returned for touchdowns.

But the other team also scored “two or three” touchdowns against the Aztecs’ zone blitzes, Long said.

In the end, it all comes out in the wash.

“It’s diminishing returns,” Long said. “You make two big plays because of the zone blitz, but you give up four big plays because of the zone blitz.

“If your offense is struggling, you can’t let them score that many points.”

Injury update

Offensive guard Japheth Gordon had a boot on his left leg at practice Tuesday. Gordon sustained a foot and ankle injury during the Fresno State game, but Long said he has been cleared to play with the injury “when he can handle the pain.”

Gordon was at practice but did not participate. Senior Riley Gauld took his place with the first team at left guard. Long said that if Gordon can practice on Wednesday, he will likely play this weekend.